Kendal Mountain Festival

The Kendal Mountain Festival is an annual event celebrating all aspects of outdoor and adventure culture and is hosted in November in Kendal, Cumbria, on the edge of the English Lake District in the UK.

The Kendal Mountain Festival has become a premier international gathering for filmmakers, writers, adventurers and enthusiasts, showcasing films, talks, exhibitions and activities. Since its inception, the festival has grown to become a global platform for sharing stories of nature, exploration, adventure and discovery.

The current festival patrons include Sir Chris Bonnington, Leo Holding, Keme Nzerem, Louise Minchin, Graham Zimmerman, Shauna Coxsey, as well as patron of the Kendal Mountain Book Festival, Robert Macfarlane.

Description

During the four-day Festival, over 200 live sessions including over 300 speakers, over 150 films, and over 60 activities and skilled-based workshops are staged. Within the festival is the Basecamp Village, hosting over 75 free talks and presentations.

The festival showcases over 100 of the world’s leading outdoor and adventure brands, from the established to the start-up, providing a platform for businesses to meet directly with their customers.

The British Mountaineering Council states that it "is by far the largest and most varied event of its type in Europe and it's the main social event for outdoor enthusiasts in the UK."^[1]

The heart of the programme is the International Film Competition, where over 150 films are screened (from over 500 international entries), with thirteen category prizes available. The genres include culture, environment, action sports, exploration and short-form documentaries.

Other events that form part of the festival include the Kendal Mountain Book Festival; speakers focus on mountains, landscape, nature and the sense of place in the only festival of its kind in the UK. The festival also hosts the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.

The festival invests in its community outreach and schools programme, such as remote screenings, "Kendal for Schools" programmes and free family adventure programme.

The Tourism Resources Company conducted an industry standard review of the 2024 festival, calculating it generated over £3.76 million for the Westmorland and Furness economy.  This calculation also highlighted that the Festival supports 66 full-time-equivalent jobs on top of the core team of 15 locally-based employees.

The festival has been cited by The Sunday Times as one of the reasons young people are attracted to Kendal as a place to live. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

The Kendal Mountain Festival's mission is "to inspire more people to explore, enjoy and represent mountains, wilderness and their cultures".

Robert Macfarlane, the festival patron, states: "The Festival celebrates the relations between people and places – between landscapes and the human heart – as they play out in culture and especially in literature. Its many and varied events seek to emphasise connection and community in an age of division."